Heartland

Deadwood, South Dakota

Published May 14, 2017

Who doesn’t yearn to visit a lawless Wild West town? Welcome to Deadwood, South Dakota!

Seemed fitting I slept in a casino, ate dinner ‘bove an old saloon. Breakfast’d next morning at Sheriff Bullock’s former hardware store. Bullock rode with Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders & later attended his 1904 presidential inauguration.

It is said that “The inaugural celebration was the largest and most diverse of any in memory—cowboys, Indians (including the Apache Chief Geronimo), coal miners, soldiers, and students were some of the groups represented.” This was to illustrate how diverse a man that Teddy Roosevelt really was.

SUPER Saturday. Having already visited Custer State Park, Crazy Horse Memorial & Mount Rushmore, didn’t arrive in Deadwood ‘til late afternoon. Hotel check-in, clothes swap, got in my daily run. Started at Days of ’76 Museum – ‘cross Main Street from Cadillac Jack’s (my casino bedroom, pre-Mother’s Day). Followed Crescent Drive, down Dunlop & McKinley to Railroad Ave. Hugged Wildwood Creek two miles ‘til it emptied into Deadwood’s historic downtown. Nice trek.

Dinner reservations at Deadwood Social Club, like stepping back in time. Housed above Saloon No. 10 – site where Wild Bill Hickok was assassinated by Jack McCall while playing a game of poker August 2^nd 1876. A+ atmosphere, limited non-cow menu.

Early to bed, early to rise. Read the history of Deadwood’s first Sheriff Seth Bullock, while I stuffing down a morning omelet. Quick downtown sightsee, then UP UP UP to Mount Moriah Cemetery. Buried high above town, walked the long hill UP to Wild Bill & Calamity Jane’s gravesite. Odd how many graveyards I find myself – it’s the history I love.

Badlands still on the list (& 2 Black Hills marathons 🙂 ). I’ll be back, South Dakota. I’ll be back.

: Days of ’76 Museum

: site where Wild Bill Hickok was assassinated, playing a game of poker

: Deadwood Social Club

: Deadwood’s first Sheriff

: 1904 Presidential inauguration

: restored Victorian, circa 1898

: Mount Moriah Cemetery

: Pistol Shot, aged 39

: Papa’s home 🙂

pre-Mother’s day run

Posted in Heartland | Tagged cemeteries, museo | Leave a comment

Crazy Horse & Rushmore

Published May 13, 2017

4 weekends marathoning – this Saturday: kick around, do laundry? Heck no – road trippin’ SD: “Great Places, Great Faces”.

Ended Friday work week with my final father-daughter dance lesson. Too far/too late to reach South Dakota – but how ‘bout Lusk? [Wyoming of course 🙂 ] Small but clean digs, free buffet breakfast. Short hour-half drive to Custer State Park, car-dodging buffalo by 9am. FAAANNNTASTIC! Native to the U.S.A, our American bison – BIG, STRONG, MASSIVE. Personal fave of the animal kingdom.

20 minutes west thru Custer, 20 minutes north to Crazy Horse Memorial. Had heard mixed reviews ‘bout the Monument. Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear commissioned the project in 1939 – Crazy Horse’s massive 87ft face wasn’t completed ’til 1998. Current work is focused on Crazy Horse’s hand, finger & his horse’s mane. Timeline? Long after my life span.

Paid an extra $10 to school bus-ride near the base of the Mountain. Felt a bit nickel-n-dimed but WOW – gotta say, being so close to something so massive, was well worth the $$. Wrong time to be short-sighted with cash. Once completed Crazy Horse will rival nearby Mt. Rushmore. Sculpted to ‘honor the culture & heritage of all North American Indians’. Just WOW.

Didn’t leave the Memorial Museum for almost 2 hours. LOVE LOVE LOVED! Native American artifacts, photographs, sculptures, paintings. Completely unexpected. WELL WORTH GOING!

Wait, wait – the day’s not over. Next up: Mount Rushmore. Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt & Lincoln – literally carved IN the Black Hills of South Dakota. Short-hiked up-n-down the Presidential Walk. Fave spot? Rushmore’s ‘Walk of Flags’ entrance. Every state, every U.S. territory represented. Left beaming USA pride. Bought an ice cream recipe’d by Pres. Thomas Jefferson himself ❤

Sleeps in historic Deadwood. Dinner above the saloon where Wild Bill Hickok was killed, tomorrow visiting his marker.

: TATANKA!

: BIG, STRONG, MASSIVE

: Pronghorn antelope

: commissioned in 1939, Crazy Horse’s face wasn’t completed ’til 1998

: ‘completed’ (left), ‘in-progress’ (right)

: Native American artifacts, photographs, sculptures & paintings

: ‘Walk of Flags’ entry

: U-S-A pride

: short-hiked the Presidential Walk

: Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt & Lincoln

Posted in Heartland | Tagged buffalo, museo, nat'l-park, native-american, road-signs, us-presidents, wildlife | 3 Comments

Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon

Published April 30, 2017

6:30am Start – up early, 5:30 shuttle last transport from my hotel. One block from the Outdoor Memorial. National Anthem, followed by 168 seconds of silence – respect for the lives lost in 1995.

Chilly start – gusty wind & light rain. Running in shorts again…gotta check the weather app before I leave home. LOL> 25,000 runners, corral start. Lotta local crowd support, much appreciated.

Started tenth-mile behind the 4:15 pace group. Hung close thru mile 2. Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (home to OKC’s Triple-A Dodgers). Past two [Phillips 66] oil derricks, 500 feet outside the Oklahoma State Capitol. Caught the 4 hour pacers at mile 5. Halfers peeled off before 8.

Gorilla Hill, Nichols Hills, Rose Hill, Heritage Hills – not a flat course 🙂

2:01 first Half. Couple minutes slower than last Saturday…on a more technical course – I’ll take it. Struggled the two miles ‘round Lake Hefner. High gusty winds. Head lowered, pushed thru the day’s weather obstacle. Misty rain blew sideways. 4 hour pace group matched me, moved past me.

Tree cover at mile 16, more at 18. Downhill stretch [thru mile 20] before a quad-burning 4 mile climb…topping out in OKC’s scenic Heritage Hills. Mighty late in the day for 4 miles of UP.

Run/walk combination last 2 miles. Mental dip/endorphin drop but not a bad performance – maintained posture, felt good in my shoes. Hilly run…third straight weekend marathoning – finished just over 4:15, an Oklahoma PR. 2^nd fastest of 2017, 16^th best of my 88. 128 consecutive run days – feelin’ STRONG!

2017 Results – OKC Marathon

Haga, K R LOUISVILLE CO 4:17:20

6 hours to burn before my Colorado flight home. Fried pickles at Toby Keith’s (while in Oklahoma, gotta/hafta), feet up/giant Coke & a movie….then, 2 stops of interest: Oklahoma’s Land Run Monument & a brief pull-over at the State Capitol.

More than 50,000 Americans lined up at noon on April 22^nd 1889 for our country’s last great Land Run. Towns were formed, homesteads staked. Ironically, monuments outside the state’s Capitol Dome celebrate Oklahoma’s Native American population (from whom the land was taken). Cowboys, Indians & Oil. American history is kinda messed up, huh?

Far North next weekend, adventuring with my Canadian bestie Sarah. Marathoning of course but ALSO…Niagara Falls!

: marathon #88; an Oklahoma PR

: Oklahoma Land Run of 1889

: “one of the world’s largest bronze sculptures featuring 45 heroic figures of land run participants, frozen in motion as they race to claim new homesteads”